


Farsighted

by Tetra6708



Category: Metalocalypse
Genre: Humor, I don't know what it's like to have glasses, I'm kind of playing it by ear, M/M, yeehaw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-02-23 10:25:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13188135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tetra6708/pseuds/Tetra6708
Summary: Charles had been wearing glasses since he was a kid. He was always cautious when he wore them. Though when you live with five destructive band members how careful could he really be? When Charles glasses suddenly go missing, he has to suck it up and start using contacts until his replacements come in. Attracting the attention of their stoic lead singer with his eyes that are usually hidden behind his glasses.





	1. Eyesight is overrated anyways.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first fic! I'd really appreciate some feedback, and I hope you enjoy. Brutal Business is a favorite ship of mine and I want to see more content for it. Anyways, onto the fic.

When he’d first received his glasses, his mother warned him to keep them safe.

“Those glasses are expensive Charles, I want you to be extra sure nothing happens to them. I don’t want to have to buy any replacements.” She lectured as Charles climbed into the car. Charles didn’t reply and instead opened the hard case that held his new frames. Though he wouldn’t admit it, even as an adult, he was excited to wear glasses. He felt like they’d make him look smarter. Distinguished, even. Like he'd be some cool manager and make tons of money just by wearing them.

So of course he practiced the utmost care when it came to his glasses. Meticulously ensuring that they were clean and safe. Even when he got new pairs as his face grew he would store the old ones safely. As if he would ever wear them again. 

That was one of the many things that had changed when he took on his role as Dethklok's manager. The five men who made up the band were each incredibly destructive. All of them had an insatiable lust for breaking things. Especially things that didn’t really belong to them. With so much chaos and destruction it proved to be a challenge to make sure his glasses were safe. Dried blood as it turned out, was especially hard to clean off of the lenses of his glasses. 

It was a pretty typical day, quiet so far which Charles was sure would change. At this moment he had been watching some Klokateers move in a statue. A decorative piece of art where an eagle was holding a bear head. Something Skiwsgaar had requested in an attempt to spice up some conversation with the various women that passed through his room before he inevitably had his way with them. Charles was simply there to make sure no one screwed it up. 

Murderface and Toki happened to be in the room watching as Klokateers struggled to get a grip on the statue. Pickles could also be seen in the room. Loitering about with a bottle of whiskey in hand. Toki- who could be much sweeter than the rest of his band mates, but just as entitled- had decided that he wanted to wear Charles' glasses. So he reached out and plucked the rectangular frames right off his face. Causing his vision to blur out of focus. He blinked a few times as he watched the rhythm guitarist place the glasses on the bridge of his nose. Not quite fitting since they did belong to Charles after all.

“Wow! Yous really are blinds Charles!” Toki commented as he moved his head side to side in childish wonder and awe. Looking at the walls and at lights. Getting a feel for how blind Charles really was.

“I wanna schee!” Murderface demanded, grabbing the glasses straight from Toki’s face. Greasy fingers pawing all over the lenses of Charles glasses as he pushed them on his face. Charles simply cringed and attempted to reach out to take them back.

“Now boys I-”

“Heeeey! I wanna see toooo!” Pickles slurred as he drunkenly lurched forward. Finding interest in the fuss Toki and Murderface were making. Pickles approached the group. Reaching out and snatching them off of Murderface’s nose. Pickles struggled for a moment trying to figure out which way he was supposed to wear the glasses. A clear sign that he was under the influence of either drugs or alcohol. Or both, really. In the midst of his confusion Toki’s hand came appeared again and tried to steal the glasses back.

“Hey! I was wearings that!” Toki whined, while Murderface also joined in the altercation.

“Fuck you guysch! Always takin’ schtuff from me! Give ‘em back!” He said indignantly. Pickles didn’t say anything and instead simply stood still. Swaying slightly with a lopsided grin as he kept a firm grip on the glasses. Content to just watch Murderface and Toki fight over who got to wear them. The frames well bent out of shape by now and there wasn’t much else he could do about salvaging them. All he had left to do was break up the fight before they decided to break anything else.

“Now Boys.” Charles interjected calmly. Stepping in between Toki and Murderface. “If you both want glasses so bad how about you each get your own pair?” Honestly Charles was certain they’d lose interest after they left the room. As if the they would actually take the time to go see an Optometrist. It was rare for them to actually see something through. Both the bassist and rhythm guitarist were easily distracted. Charles was sure that they'd forget about it and he'd get his glasses back.

There was a moment of silence as they stopped bickering. Looking at each other before grins spread across their face. Obviously enthused to have a way to get what they both wanted.

“Hey yeah! C’mon Toki letsch go get our own god damn glaschesch! Instead of dicking around with thisch robot!” Murderface lisped, retracting his hand.

“Oooh! Do we get to go sees the eye doctors!” Toki chimed in. Happy to be invited to participate in an activity. Toki was incredibly desperate to be included. 

“Yeah! Letsch go find an optometrischt!” 

“Oh ja! I want to see the optemertristses!” 

The pair eagerly left the room. Leaving a drunk Pickles holding the remains of Charles' glass in his hand. Sadly pair did not survive the brutal tug-of-war and was now a useless heap of bent metal and broken glass. Pickles stared at the mess in his hands, and picked up one of the lenses that was mostly in tact. Satisfied with just that as he held it up to his eyes and dropped the rest of what used to be Charles' glasses. 

“Man, Offdensen’s fuckin’ blind.” He giggled to no one in particular. Walking around the room and looking up close at stuff. Leaving Charles vision slightly worse than when he had came into the room. He glanced around for a moment. Though he couldn't make anything out clearly, he could at least see that the Klokateers were no longer in the room. Leaving him standing there without a reason So he left the room. Heading back to his office where more work and more importantly, a pair of his spare glasses sat.

It was easy enough for Charles to walk down the halls. He'd walked this way so many times before it was practically second nature. Though he couldn't see very well at all. He'd have to squint and take a moment to really focus on anything. Making it more likely that he would trip or knock something over So he walked quicker. Wanting to get to his office and put on his spares as soon as he could. Though in his haste he was interrupted as a large mass came into view too quick for Charles to stop. Colliding into a solid chest of someone. 

When he had heard a gruff sounding 'Fuck!' Charles made the educated guess that it was Nathan. The large lead singer acting as a brick wall in Charles’ path. He hated to admit it but he really was blind without his glasses. Not even really seeing Nathan until he had bumped right into him.

“Oh, sorry Nathan.” Charles reached up to readjust his glasses. As one normally would when they bumped into something. Though he felt a little silly when he reminded himself that he had just lost his pair. Now it just looked like he was about to poke himself in the eyes. 

“S’okay.” Nathan grumbled. Obviously a little irritated to be bumped into but otherwise in an okay mood. Charles had expected him to keep walking. However he just stood there. Though he couldn't quite make out Nathan's facial expressions at the moment he assumed he was staring with the same, intense look that he normally did. A powerful gaze that sometimes made the back of Charles' neck run a bit hot. 

“Is there ah, something the matter Nathan?” Generally when Nathan stared at Charles, it meant he had something to ask him. He wouldn’t say anything unless prompted and Charles wasn’t quite sure if it was out of courtesy or because conversation could sometimes prove a bit difficult for Nathan. Charles figured it was the latter. Especially since each Dethklok member didn’t seem to be the courteous type. It took a moment, but Nathan leaned in a bit closer. Coming out of the fog of Charles’ farsight.  
“Where the fuck are your glasses, Offdensen?” Nathan asked. Strands of black silk falling in front of his face. 

“A couple of the boys uh, broke them.” Charles answered simply. The breach of his personal space was something that Charles was used to by now. Still, it made him want to squirm. Nathan's size and height made combined with his intense stare made his stomach do awkward flops. Though Charles would just shift his weight from foot to foot inconspicuously. Shrugging off the fluttering feeling in his stomach. Charles usually gave off some sort of vibe that kept people away. All but Nathan.

When Charles had asked Nathan about it one day. The frontman simply shrugged and muttered something about ‘Tryin’ to figure out your fuckin’ robot face…’ So, since it didn’t seem necessary to tell him not to, Charles didn’t bring it up after that. He stopped batting an eye to Nathan’s unnecessary closeness and continued on with business as usual. 

“Your eyes are fuckin weird.” Nathan grunted. Squinting at Charles.

“Uhm. I’m not exactly sure what you mean by that.” As far as Charles knew his eyes looked fine. Nothing notably abnormal.

“They’re like… uhhh” Nathan trailed off which was expected from the singer. He kept his green eyes trained on Charles as he took a couple of seconds to figured out what exactly he wanted to say “Green but uh… also brown? S’fuckin weird. Eyes are only supposed to have one color right?” Nathan questioned. His brows furrowed together as he apparently investigated the oddity of Charles’ eyes.

“They’re ah, Hazel. They’re a gradient of green and brown.” Charles explained. His eye color had been brought up to him before but never like this.

“Huh. I guess I’ve never really seen your eyes before... “ Nathan muttered as he leaned back. Finally Charles was free of Nathan’s tendency to loom over him. 

“They’re kind of cool.” Was the last thing Charles’ expected to hear out of Nathan. It was rare he got compliments from the frontman. Even more rare if it was about his appearance.

“Well uh, thank you Nathan.” Charles response came about a bit awkwardly. He could feel pin pricks of heat rushing to his cheeks. Which he could only assume was due to the surprise of the compliment. So he willed it away before Nathan could point anything out. Not wanting to look like some star struck girl who just got called 'cute' by her star quarterback of a crush. “ I’m going to go to my office now. Was that all, Nathan?”

“Yeah.” With that, Nathan had continued walking the way he was going and Charles stood still. Watching him leave. He clicked his tongue distastefully in regards to his reaction to the lead singer. He was better than that. 

Charles returned to his office shortly after his encounter with Nathan. Relief washing over him in waves as he was reunited with his eyesight. A small smirk rising to his face as everything returned to their normal levels of clarity. He sat down at his desk and pulled out a pen. Incredibly grateful that this was the end of the whole glasses fiasco. 

Except that it really wasn’t.

He had woken up that morning and reached over to his bedside table. After a moment of feeling around on the cool surface of the wood he realized that his glasses simply weren't there. Which wasn't right at all. Even in the midst of his most chaotic weeks where he would be awake for days at a time, he never lost his glasses. Ever. He began to search. His room first, then the bathroom. Both were unsuccessful. So he began with his office after he got dressed and though he wouldn't admit it, he bumped into a few things that morning in his rush to get ready. He'd just have to go with another pair of spares if he couldn't find his.

Or so he thought. 

After a quick but incredibly thorough inspection of his office desk, he found that his other spare pair of glasses were also missing. Leaving him with no clue as to where his glasses were. Seeing no other choice he marched back into his room. narrowly avoiding the doorway as he retreated back into his bathroom. A few drawers were carelessly flung open as me moved objects around. His fingers finding their way around a small white case.

Charles was incredibly rusty when it came to wearing contacts. He absolutely couldn't stand the feeling of them on his eyelids and he hated putting them on. It felt like he was poking himself in the god damn eyeball. He'd just have to deal with contacts for the time being. At least until he managed to get his glasses back. It wasn't the worst solution, and he'd honestly rather take contacts over having to have a Klokateer read everything to him like he was some illiterate degenerate.

Charles looked back at his reflection in the mirror. Fixing a few things here and there under the golden light of his bathroom. He was ready for the day and only about fifteen minutes late. He exited his private room and sat down at his office chair and looking down at the intimidatingly large pile of paperwork. Subconsciously reaching up to adjust glasses that weren't there. His frowned deepened as he reached over for the phone. Knowing exactly what his first order of business for the day would be.

"I'd like to place an order for 300 pairs of my prescription... Yes, I'd like the bill to be emailed to me... I can pick it up next week? Excellent, thank you." 

He hung up the phone with a satisfied click. Leaning over his desk to bang out another long day of analyzing paperwork and lawsuits. Business as usual.


	2. Early Bird

Nathan had rolled himself out of bed earlier than his usual five pm wake up time. To any other person it wouldn’t have been early at all, but anything before noon was hellishly early for him. A quick glance at his phone told him that it was 11:25 am. Nathan might as well woken up at the crack of dawn.

Despite the early wake up, he felt surprisingly normal. No pounding headache or dry, heavy tongue to indicate a hangover. He didn’t even have any voluptuous visitors in his bed that night. So perhaps it was a touch abnormal all things considered.

Instead of rolling out of bed right away he simply stayed still. Giving himself time to relish in the oddity of waking up so early. His eyes flicked around the wide expanse of his bedroom. There was plenty of macabre decor to look at but his eyes didn’t seem to care for focusing on anything in particular. Until he glanced at his desk.

There on his desk sat a number of different books that Nathan enjoyed to read. There were a couple that were about music theory. Not all of which he understood and some of the contents were a bit boring, but the books helped him get a firm grasp on different time meters and a clearer idea of musicality. So in his opinion it wasn’t terribly gay or unbrutal of him. Especially since it’s only helping further his career as the head for the world’s most brutal band. 

The books on his desk weren’t what caught his eye, it was what sat on top of them. Silver framed glasses glinted in the low light of his room. His reading glasses. It wasn’t that they were out of place or special at all. It was just a reminder of yesterday’s encounter with his manager.

Enthralling green eyes accented by a rich brown center. All of that hidden behind a stupid pair of glasses. It never occured to Nathan that a simple pair of glasses could conceal so much. It makes Nathan wonder what other details of Charles’ face he’d missed in his frequent bouts of staring at the man. The staring was a habit that always made Nathan feel a tad guilty. Which was a little unsettling since guilt was one of the things Nathan felt the least. He rarely spent time feeling remorseful for his actions, and opted to do whatever the hell he wanted. He was Nathan Explosion after all. Somehow staring at his manager’s face was the one thing that managed to make him feel even a sliver of guilt.

Though it made sense. It was a lot more gay than reading stupid music theory books. Pretty gay even. Especially when Nathan thought about Offdensen’s strong and well defined jaw. The thought of planting his lips there had crossed his mind a few times, sure. Nathan also liked to focus his attention on the Charles’ nose. The shape of it and how it seemed to be just ever so crooked. As if it had been broken before and healed slightly off center. Something only someone would notice if they were staring at him for a long period of time. Nathan liked to imagine it was in some sort of brutal street brawl even though it was probably something a little less awesome.

Charles’ probably fell on a stack of books or something nerdy like that. 

Despite how seemingly nerdy Charles usually was, Nathan found himself impossibly captivated by the man. It was hard not to be sometimes. Especially when you’ve seen the guy absolutely wreck other people like he was some hero in an action movie. All the while keeping some sort of neutral business face while he did it. Nathan found himself being caught off guard time and time again by the raw power that was hidden under some shitty suit and glasses. It wasn’t like Nathan wanted to blow the guy or anything. He wasn’t that gay for Offdensen at the very least. He just liked to observe him is all.

It’s not like he was committing some sort of animalistic atrocity or crime against nature. It wasn’t really hurting anybody and again- he was Nathan Explosion. The lead singer of the world’s most powerful and most brutal death metal band. He didn’t have to answer to anyone. So really he’d come to terms with the fact that yeah, Nathan could be a little bit gay for Charles... sometimes.

The thought used to make him uncomfortable. For a while he really tried to just ignore it. If he started feeling awkward or weird about his feelings, he’d just find some nearby groupie and distract himself for a while. It was how he dealt with all of his problems. After a while, banging groupies for the sake of forgetting about his handsome manager got stale. So he just let it go.

Sure he could pop the occasional boner over it but who cared? It’s not the gayest thing that had ever happened in Mordhaus. Especially when you live with someone like Pickles, who used to be in Snakes N’ Barrels. Glam Metal was about as gay as you could get. So Nathan was straight as a goddamn arrow comparatively.

Nathan had found himself thinking back to yesterday’s encounter. Remembering the exact moment he realised Charles was without his glasses. Nathan had been told by many people that he had an intense glare, but Charles’ gaze was something different. Charles had a more quiet sort of intense compared to Nathan’s bold stare. The calm and collected gaze of Charles absolutely screamed power in their own right. It was a paralyzing look that had totally caught Nathan off guard.

It was like he saw Charles naked and, really, he might as well actually had. Nathan was positive no one in the band had seen Charles without his glasses. It was almost like it was something they were forbidden from seeing. All except Nathan. As if fate had chosen him to witness the full power of Charles’ scrutinizing stare. An unearthed part of the man that Nathan had seen only by chance.

It was also a little funny to see Charles so rushed to get somewhere. Since that guy practically oozed unphasable composure.

The memory of Charles bumping into him had drawn a small amused smirk to Nathan’s face. Charles looking the slightest bit unsettled even for just a brief moment was so out there. It made him look like less of a robotic business machine and more… well. Human. A human with beautiful eyes. Gorgeous enough for Nathan’s stomach to start doing acrobatics as he laid still in his bed. His blanket and sheets finally becoming too warm for him to simply sit and fantasize about his manager.

At least he didn’t have a hard on that time. So he was still on the safe side of his made up gay scale.

Nathan went through the simple motions of getting ready. Starting with a shower. Cranking the faucet almost all the way to the left. He liked his showers to the point where the water was scalding. He spent most of his time in there staring at his feet. His hair was a black veil over his face as hot water cascaded over him.

Once he toweled off, he dressed himself in his usual clothing. A plain shirt and yesterday’s jeans. He didn’t bother with shoes yet and instead just went with socks. Going completely barefoot in Mordhaus was a lot like going barefoot in the arctic. The floor felt like a thin sheet of ice on his toes.

It was only a bit past noon by now, so no one else would be up yet. Meaning that he’d get to have his breakfast in silence and get to watch whatever he wanted on tv. Trying to enjoy something on the television with the other four Dethklok members might as well been like trying to piss in a shot glass strapped to a record player. Fucking impossible.

Skwisgaar always wanted to watch Golden Girls, Murderface wanted to watch boring ass war documentaries,Toki and Pickles wanted to watch cartoons. Toki liked them because he actually enjoyed whatever cutsey trash they showed and Pickles got a kick out them when he was high. Which he almost always was.

Nathan didn’t actually care for tv all that much. He just liked the satisfaction of being able to focus on whatever the fuck was going on without someone being called a pussy-faggot or a shit stain. So he came out of the kitchen and walked to the open couch. Fully intent on taking up the whole expanse of the sofa simply because he could.

Instead he found the tv was on, and tuned to the fucking weather channel of all things. There was one person occupying the couch. It couldn’t be one of the band members since it was way too early for any of them to be up. There was no hood to indicate a Klokateer so... it must have been Charles.

Though Charles looked a bit odd. He was sitting back on the couch. Something that was practically unheard of from the manager. Charles usually had great posture. His head always up and his shoulders squared. He looked like he had a glowing sign taped to him that read ‘BUSINESS’. Instead, Charles was leaned back with one hand covering his eyes and whatever he was working on set aside.

Nathan found himself staring again. Briefly considering the fact that he might have found himself in some bizzare alternate universe. One in which he wakes up before the evening and Charles actually relaxes from time to time. Of course his staring didn’t go unnoticed as Charles shifted his hand a bit to look at Nathan.

“Ah. You’re up early.” Charles already sounded like he was in some sort of bad mood. His tone of voice almost sounded strained or maybe even tired. It differed entirely from Charles’ usual monotoned manner of speech.

“Uhh…” Nathan shuffled his feet and looked down at his bowl of cereal. The neon colored O-shapes were starting to get soggy. He’d have to eat this quick so there wasn’t really time to escape from his strangely acting manager. Against his reflex to just leave Charles be, Nathan trudged over to the couch. Almost cautiously as if he would spook away a rare animal He’d just discovered

When Nathan approached the couch Charles more or less looked unaffected. So Nathan sat down on the opposite end of the couch and proceeded to get comfortable. He shovelled a spoonful of cereal into his mouth and chewed. Finding that it was some sort of off tasting imitation sweetener instead of real sugar. Obviously bought in consideration of Toki’s diabetes. Nathan grimaced at the taste of the apparently sugar free cereal. That was probably the last time he stole any food that belonged to Toki. So instead he set his bowl down on the floor and looked at Charles again. 

The other man was still in the same position. As motionless as a dead man with his eyes still shielded from the light. 

“Hey uh. What the fuck are you doing?” Nathan grumbled. This caused the manager to shift his hand again. This time completely. Nathan watched as an apparently glassesless Charles turned to speak to him.

“I lost my glasses and ah, well I’m wearing contacts right now.” Charles said as he squinted at Nathan. Presumably to keep the light out of his eyes. “I haven’t worn them in a while so it’s taking some time to get used to them. It doesn’t help that I’ve been wearing them all morning.” Charles explained before turning back to his earlier position.

“Oh. Uh, does that mean you have to like…” Nathan made a few prodding gestures in the air. “Put those weird plastic things in your eye?”

“Yes. At least until my spare glasses come in.” Charles answered before sighing and removing his hand from his eyes. Sitting forward, he reached for the abandoned documents to his left. Picking them up and placing them in his lap.

“So but uh… why are you out here?” Nathan asked, gesturing to Charles’ work.

“Oh. Well the light in my office is rather ah, bright. I figured none of you would be awake so…” Charles trailed off. Looking a bit awkward now that he had to share his work space with someone.

“Would you like me to leave, Nathan?” Charles asked. Clearly anticipating the frontman to say yes as he was already leaning over to gather some strewn about papers. 

“Nah s’fine.” Nathan shrugged. He didn’t mind Charles’ presence. Nathan liked his alone time, sure. However even he needed to be around people sometimes or he’d end up insane. Besides Charles seemed like the prime candidate to enjoy some silence with. Sure Nathan loved palling around with the rest of Dethklok but fuck him if they weren’t a bunch of stressful assholes.

After being given the all clear to stay, Charles settled back into the couch without saying another word. Nathan didn’t say anything either and Instead turned his attention to the stupid weather channel. Nathan didn’t want to be a complete dick and change the channel so instead he hoped that the weather channel would somehow show something cool. Like an apocalyptic hurricane or a volcano erupting. 

Nathan’s hopes were trampled by the weather channel simply doing it’s normal purpose. Show the weather. Nathan found himself looking at the temperatures and weather patterns accompanied by swanky jazz music. Like the people who ran the weather channel were secretly conspiring against Nathan by only showing him things that irritated the hell out of him. So instead he glanced at Charles. He was still there just like he was a few moments prior. Still intently focused on what was bound to be some sort of complicated contract or lawsuit. Obviously not paying Nathan any mind, meaning Nathan had the go head to stare at Charles all he wanted.

The first thing Nathan zeroed in on was Charles’ eyes. Nathan was pretty happy to see that they were visible again. The singer watched with interest as hazel eyes flicked from side to side. Inspecting every fine detail of the document in front of them. Occasionally Charles would pick up his pen and scribble something. Or let out low disapproving hum. Sometimes his eyebrows would crease slightly as if he had to focus harder on a certain section.

Nathan moved on from Charles’ face and now focussed on his hands. Charles’ left hand held a slim black pen. Fingers curved around the writing utensil delicately as it hovered above the paper. Looking for something to write in or to scribble out. Then at one point Charles had abandoned the pen for a moment. Only to bring his fingers together to crack his knuckles. That was something Nathan hasn’t even seen Charles do once.

Nathan’s favorite part of looking at Charles’ hands was when two fingers would go towards his mouth. Charles would then swipe them across his tongue. It was only to dampen the pads of his fingertips. Something to help turn the page of whatever stupid work document Charles was working on.

After an almost an eternity of watching Charles do what he always did. Which was be boring and work all the time. The cycle was interrupted as Charles brought his fingers to his face again. Instead of his lips, they were aimed for the bridge of his nose. Then Nathan witnessed as his manager pushed where his glasses would have sat. Only they weren’t nestled on the barely crooked nose of Charles. So instead he had just poked himself instead. 

This had apparently startled Charles who simply blinked in confusion before letting out an irritated huff. Looking just slightly embarrassed but mostly just irritated that he had interrupted his own focus.

Charles was far from cute or adorable. Those were hardly anywhere near the descriptors Nathan would use for the man. However, in this moment where Nathan had just witnessed one of the most human things he’d seen Charles done…

Well there was no other way to describe it. It was fucking cute. 

“Holy shit.” Nathan smirked as Charles glanced over at him in surprise. Like he completely forgot Nathan was in the room with him.

“You forgot you weren’t wearing glasses!” Nathan accused teasingly as he pointed a finger at Charles who looked like he wanted to deny the whole thing. 

“Well, I’m used to wearing them and I suppose its muscle memory by now.” Charles clarified in an attempt to brush of Nathan’s teasing.

“Huh... Maybe you aren’t a robot after all.” Nathan continued as Charles rolled his eyes. Another thing Nathan probably would have missed if Charles was wearing his glasses.

Another small bout of silence lapsed over the two men before there was another break in the quiet atmosphere. Charles had put down the papers- he was almost done with that whole stack now- and sighed heavily. He brought his hands up to rub at his eyes as he leaned back against the couch again. Obviously in some sort of discomfort. 

At first Nathan went with his usual instincts. Not to say anything. After all, Nathan had gotten into the habit of thinking that expressing your concern for someone made you a pussy. Especially your manager. Nathan fought the urge to just ignore Charles and go back to his mindless staring but it wasn’t interesting to watch Charles lay there with his hands over his face. 

“Uh. What’s uh… What’s the matter with you?” Nathan asked gruffly. The sentence coming out stilted and awkward. Obvious to anyone that Nathan had a hard time asking about other people's well being. 

“I’ve been wearing my contacts since this morning.” Charles answered lamley. 

“Yeah but like, aren’t you supposed to?” The answer Charles gave perplexed Nathan. The way he figured it, people wore contacts all the time and it didn’t bother them.

“Well, like I said. I’m not used to them. These are the kind of things you’re supposed to ease into.” Came Charles’ disgruntled reply.

“Well why are you still wearing them?” It sounded kind of odd, that Charles would do something like that. Why would anyone wear something so long even if they knew it would make them uncomfortable?

“I need to be able to see to work, Nathan.” Charles responded matter of factly. As if it was supposed to be obvious.

“Oh.” Nathan paused and looked down at the floor for a second. “Well uh. That’s pretty fucking dumb.” He said after a moment of thinking.

“Excuse me?” 

“I think it’s dumb that you would uh, hurt your eyes for work.” 

“Well unfortunately I can’t afford to not do my job.” Nathan thought for a moment. The last time Charles’ wasn’t here to do his job everything had gone to hell. So it was true, Charles kind of had to make sure he did his job.

“Yeah but … that still sucks.” Nathan crossed his arms. “Can’t you like… do stuff that doesn’t involve reading?”

Charles opened his mouth as if he was about to say no. Then the man paused and Nathan watched as his brows knit together. A clear indicator that Charles was thinking of an idea.

“Well I suppose… I could take some time to make some phone calls.” Charles sat back up and removed his hands from his face. Wincing at the light again as he gathered up his things. Then he rose to his feet. 

“I’m going to go back to my office.” He announced as he looked downwards at Nathan who simply watched as he walked away. However, before Charles left the room completely he looked back at Nathan.

“Uh. Thank you for the idea Nathan.” Nathan could have sworn he saw a slight upturn in Charles’ lips but… well he was probably imagining it. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen Charles smile before. 

“Mmhm.” Nathan grunted as he turned his attention back to the tv. The clicking of Charles’ dress shoes fading as Nathan was now left alone. 

Only after the weather channel was long gone, replaced by some shitty daytime tv show, did Nathan feel warmth pool in his gut. Over and over again he replayed today’s events with his manager in his mind. Charles’ with his head down and working diligently. The small lapses in his robotic state with things that Nathan had never seen before. How comfortable it was to just watch Charles for what could have been at least an hour or two.

He just hung out on the couch with his fucking manager! How weird was that?

Man… he was gayer for Charles than he thought. In that moment he found it hard to really give a damn. He was still Nathan Explosion after all and he was still free to do whatever he pleased. Even if it was replay stupid thoughts of his manager being slightly endearing. No one could tell him otherwise.

Besides, it’s not like Charles even noticed anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! I'm really thankful for all the wonderful feedback from the last chapter. I'm very excited to continue with this fic and I hope you all keep enjoying it.
> 
> Feedback is greatly appreciated and if you'd like, feel free to message me anytime. My tumblr is bubblegumfluffer!
> 
> I would also like to greatly thank my friend Evelyn who helped me edit this chapter. I couldn't have done this without her.


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